1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna for installation in a vehicle, such as an aircraft, and a method for using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a window mounted antenna assembly for an aircraft for enabling the aircraft to communicate wirelessly with a network, such as a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).
2. Description of the Related Art
The installation of traditional antennae in aircraft typically involve drilling holes through the skin of the aircraft on the top or bottom, mounting the desired antenna, and sealing the installed antenna, cable, and mounting holes sufficient to prevent compromise of the pressurized aircraft during flight. This is often a complicated and expensive installation that must be performed with great care due to the safety sensitive nature of the modification to the aircraft.
Since the antenna is intended to operate while the aircraft is on the ground and the communications are typically with ground-based network base stations or repeaters, the direction of the antenna should be towards the side of the aircraft (“side-looking”) as opposed to away from the top or bottom of the aircraft. It is also desirable for the antenna to be capable of being installed with a minimum of cost and complexity, as well as having a minimal impact on the structure of the aircraft.
The industry has made several attempts to provide wireless communications to the aircraft while the aircraft is on the ground. One attempt is a system that has typically been called “GateLink” in the industry. The “GateLink” approaches have been accomplished by installing a network antenna, such as an IEEE 802.11a/b/g antenna, on the top of the aircraft, and using the antenna to communicate with a ground station. However, the “GateLink” system is disadvantageous because the system not only requires modification to the aircraft, but further requires modification to the gate at the airport, which is relatively difficult to accomplish efficiently.
Furthermore, an antenna installation that penetrates the pressure seal of the aircraft, such as that of the “GateLink” system, is expensive, complex, and difficult to certify. Also, top or bottom mounted antenna are well suited for aircraft communications in flight, but are far less effective when the device to which the aircraft is communicating is on the ground toward the horizon. On the contrary, a side-looking antenna mounted on the top or bottom of an aircraft would need to be undesirably tall and would still require holes to be drilled into the aircraft, with the resulting installation and certification complications. A side-looking top or bottom mounted antenna design would thus be highly custom, low in quantity, and relatively expensive.